Our word "eureka" is said to have come about from an exclamation that the legendary Archimedes uttered when he discovered something. What do you think it was that he discovered?

A. a method of cooking food

B. his long-lost father

C. a way to tell if gold was pure

D. a process for finding water in a desert

You should be thrilled if you chose C! "Eureka" comes from the Greek word "heureka," meaning "I have found," from the Greek verb "heuriskein," meaning "to find." As the legend goes, the Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes (287-212 B.C.) realized while stepping into a bath one day that the purity of a gold object could be determined by measuring the amount of water the object displaced. He was supposedly so excited by this discovery that he yelled out "Heureka!" and ran shouting from his bath out into the streets. The story may not be true, but people still shout "Eureka!" upon making a sudden, welcome discovery.